Understanding Passerby and Visitor Behavior in Retail Through Location Analytics — Including “Aha!” Moments.

DMS (Vienna), LOC-place (Parndorf) and PlaceSense (Tel Aviv, Israel) presented cooperation at DMS Talk.

Vienna, January 18, 2023 — On Tuesday, January 17, the first DMS Talk of the year took place, focusing on the opportunities and limitations of location analytics in brick-and-mortar retail. The session was hosted by Oliver Nitz (CMO at Digitale Mediensysteme GmbH), Jan Barenhoff (Director Business Development Europe at PlaceSense), and Thomas Hinterleitner (owner of LOC-place). Hinterleitner explained: 

“Just as in e-commerce, customer behavior in physical retail can now be measured easily and in full compliance with data protection regulations. In addition to this, big data, socio-demographic data, and weather conditions are also factored in. Different technologies and hardware solutions are now available to support various stages of the customer journey.”

Nitz elaborated that sensors are being used to measure metrics such as dwell time, movement within the store, and more. With LOC-place and Retail PLACE GmbH in Parndorf, Hinterleitner operates a knowledge and innovation hub for digital transformation at the POS and POI. He shared use cases such as customer flow mapping at Vienna Airport — enabled via geofencing, beacons, and WLAN.

“Retailers and shopping centers are increasingly demanding deeper insights into the customer journey and anonymized competitor analysis,”
said Hinterleitner. “Aggregated and anonymized mobile phone data from partners like PlaceSense can be enriched with socio-demographic metrics. This enables continuous optimization — such as adjusting opening hours — to make better use of existing resources.”

PlaceSense, headquartered in Israel with branches in Germany and Slovakia, creates location-based analytics for retail. Barenhoff showcased a live demo visualizing visitor frequency in Wiesbaden’s city center using heat maps. Barenhoff explained:

“Our platform allows retailers, real estate developers, and municipalities to access precise data by combining GPS signals. We automatically collect this data from a wide range of apps across many European countries — even retroactively, up to three years back.”

The presentation also included a case study comparing visitor frequency at two competing fashion retailers during the COVID lockdowns, illustrating how customer flow changed based on marketing measures:

“With targeted marketing adjustments, customer behavior can be influenced. The data also helps define catchment areas and benchmark store performance across locations.”

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Click here to view the DMS Talk.

About DMS.

Digitale Mediensysteme GmbH (DMS) was founded in 2004 and has since developed into a leading digitization partner for wow experiences in retail operations in the DACH region - always with the aim of inspiring: making digital matter. From its location in Vienna-Ottakring, the company is also active on a project basis in Italy, Slovenia and Hungary, a total of 13 countries.

A team of around 25 employees ensures that multimedia content in retail and service companies at the POS reliably reaches people where it brings concrete benefits. Digital signage, in-store radio and corporate TV solutions provide relevant information and contribute to a comprehensive brand experience. DMS works with the best technology providers and acts as a full-service agency that can offer everything from conception, development and implementation to ongoing editorial and technical support: always with a hands-on mentality and a team that works reliably to perform even better.

We make digital matter. www.digitale-medien.at/en